Dn't like bathing?

Radhika - posted on 12/08/2010
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19 moms have responded
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My 1 1/2 months old daughter cries like hell when she's been giving a bath. Does your child cry too??? Any tip to make it a less of an ordeal for her. I do check the water temp twice over to make sure its not too cold or or too hot...just right.

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Debbie - posted on 12/11/2010

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I agree with the showering, when My kiddies were babies they would snuggle up onto my chest and I would let the water run over us both, I remember my son falling alseep on me like that! Sponge bathing is fine. It's not like she is running around getting hot and sweaty or playing in the mud yet!! Making sure all her folds of skin are clean and then dry, can be done just as easily with a clean damp cloth.

Try showers... My daughter is now 2 years and 4 months and for probably 9 months she has been getting showers instead of baths... She started off not minding them then she hated them then she would ly on her belly in the bath and was ok with them again for a while but now she just wants showers and specifically will ask to shower instead of bathe which is fine with me. She still has her bath toys in with her though!

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Zoe - posted on 12/12/2010

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my word christine this is getting really personal. you have read and focused on one sententenc and extrapolated an entire life, can you predict the lottery nos too? if you scroll to the top of the page you will see that the oreginal point of this topic is a new mum with a 6 week old child crying couse she doesnt like the bath. i am trying to reasure her that no harm will come to the child if she just gives her self and the child a breack for a week or so. some peopel have offerd helfull suggestion like flannels and spong baths, but it would seam that you just want to add to her anxiety and tell her that unless she forses her child into the bath scrming she will be an out cast of sosiaty, well thats just ace. and i thourt the pont of this furem was to support each other.

Try just doing sponge baths and keep her covered as much as possible.Sometimes it's just the slightly cool air against their skin. I got in the bath with my kids and they laid in the water with me, often nursing while in the bath, they seemed to enjoy that warm cuddly Mommy time.

Do you have bath toys? I know this sounds like an obvious idea, but the toys might provide a distraction. Your baby might end up being so caught up in playing that she doesn't realize she's taking a bath.

Christine,I think you are out of line telling another mother that she is living in a filthy era because she doesn't bathe her child as often as you think she should. To be honest, I don't think young children really sweat the way pubescent teens and adults do, so unless they really love to play in the dirt and such, a bath every night, or even every other night is not necessary. And as for germs and diseases, I am sure her children wash their hands. This is really how germs and diseases spread, as you probably know. The more germs and things one is exposed to at a young age, the better their immune system is. In fact, too much bathing and overuse of antibacterial products are creating a society where people of all ages are sick more often then they have been since before plumbing.

Ge christine, i dont live in the middle ages and my girl is hardly ever ill but i think some peopel get hung up on hygine and can damige young skin. so yous smells funny in a couple of days, well mine dosent, we are all different. my pont was none of the staff at the hospitel thourt it nessersey for mygirl to have a bath, iam sure they would not have stoped me.

Hi Radhika, is it realy important to you that she has a bath, if you clean her bum when you chang her nappy and yo wipe her face with a flannel when needed. i know losts of peopel think bathing a baby is important but i dont see why. my littel one was stuck in hospital for her first 2 weeks and non of the staff seemed to think she needed a bath. even now at 4 years she can go weeks without a bath. just giving another angel on it.

my older 2 HATED baths as bitty babies. they screamed bloody murder from the instant I got them naked to the moment I wrapped them in a towel. I got really good at doing 'spot cleaning' and washing hair when they had clothes on, then removing piece by piece.

My 2-month-old really doesn't like them either, but one thing has helped. I put a space heater in the bathroom about 1/2 hr. before I take her in there. That way the bathroom is really warm. We have a pretty big bathroom that has 2 doors, and even though I make sure both are shut, we still get a little draft from the tiny space under the doors, and this helps with that.

My 5 yr old hates a bath. She pitches a fit every night when I get her bath ready. Some kids just don't like it. She loved it as a baby, but now she hates it. She has toys, her fave soap, shampoo, washcloth, you name it, but she hates a bath. I think one reason she hates it so much is b/c she is so cold when she gets out. Most people will bath their little ones by just a cloth. Pretty much a spongebath, not really using a tub. I mean, they can't get too dirty as an infant. One thing the dr told me when my kids were babies was to check the water temp with your elbow. A baby's skin is sensitive, so just b/c water temp seems fine to you, it may be too hot for the baby. Good Luck

Use a hand towel, worked wonders for my LO. I would get it soaked in the same warm water we were bathing her in and then lay it over whatever part of her body wasn't being washed. i.e. if I was washing her legs, it would be on her belly and chest, if I was washing her chest/arms, it would be on her lower body. And do her head last, our heads lose heat the fastest, so I always saved hair washing for the final step. Best of luck!